Safety and parking preparations underway for USC game and State Fair Saturday

COLUMBIA,SC (WOLO)- There are traffic and safety concerns as we prepare for another busy weekend with two major events happening at the same time in Columbia.

The South Carolina State Fair and Gamecock football game are happening on the same weekend.

“Anytime that you put that number of people in that area there is going to be traffic issues,” Matt Laschuma, Fairgrounds director of safety said.

This isn’t the first time the fair and a USC game happened on the same weekend. Officials say dealing with it in the past has made them prepared for what’s to come.

“We do increase our numbers whenever the population increases,” Laschuma said. “I can’t go into specifics but, there will be a huge law enforcement presence in this area.”

They’re advice for people attending the game and fair goers is to pack patience and be prepared for limited close parking.

What we ask is that you bring some patience in each pocket and be ready to use it because there are going to be a lot of people,” Laschuma said.